Biological Anthropology: Neanderthal Origins, Essay Example

Abstract

This work examines a recent article in the area of biological anthropology.

Introduction

Biological anthropology or physical anthropology is “an area of investigation that examines all aspect of the biological domain of humans. As a subdiscipline of anthropology it has its intellectual and academic roots in the social sciences, but it also has strong interdisciplinary connections with the natural sciences, especially biology, psychology, ethnology, and the earth sciences.” (Department of Anthropology, New York University, nd) The result is that practitioners of physical anthropology have adhered to a “multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective that integrates a diversity of approaches from the social and natural sciences.” (Department of Anthropology, New York University, nd)

A recent report in the study of biological anthropology entitled “Neanderthal Genes Live on in Modern Humans” reports that researchers “compared the genetic material collected from the bones of three Neanderthals with that from five modern humans.” (NY Daily News, 2011) Findings are stated to include that a relationship between Neanderthals and modern people outside Africa exist. Suggested is that “…interbreeding occurred in the Middle East, where both modern humans and Neanderthals lived thousands of years ago.” (NY Daily News, 2011) The report relates that human beings can “trace their origins out of Africa into the Middle East and then on to other parts of the world.” (NY Daily News, 2011) Researchers state that as they sample more Africans that they are likely to find some of these older lineages in Africa. Neanderthals existed approximately 400,000 years ago and “coexisted with modern humans for 30,000 to 50,000 years in Europe and western Asia.” (NY Daily News, 2011)

References

Neanderthal Genes Live on in Modern Humans (2011) NY Daily News. The Associated Press. 6 May 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/05/06/2010-05-06_neanderthal_genes_live_on_in_modern_humans.html

Graduate Program in Physical Anthropology (nd) NY University Department of Anthropology. Retrieved from: http://anthropology.as.nyu.edu/object/anthro.grad.physical